Make a New One
by WitchwithKids
Summary: After leaving Hershel's farm, Daryl leads the survivors into a town with a little bit of history.  HIS history.  Daryl/OC  Rated M for language and adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

_She looked so pretty with the flower tucked behind her ear, Daryl thought. Why she was here with him, he couldn't comprehend, but he didn't plan on wasting any more time being shy. Awkward, well, he couldn't help that. Nobody else had the power to make him feel strong and weak all at the same time._

"_Kate?"_

_She turned her head at the sound of her name and Daryl leaned in to her. This time it wasn't the chaste peck on the lips he had given her in the photo booth earlier in the night. Kate opened her mouth, and he slipped in his tongue, tasting traces of the cherry slurpee she had been sipping on._

"_I heard you was with the half-breed," a voice that was too close said, startling the couple in the bed of the pickup. "I thunk, 'nah, my baby brother ain't that stupid,' but I guess I was wrong."_

"_Ain't no half-breed, Merle," Daryl said, sitting up straight and looking around for his brother. He had maneuvered himself in front of her, but Merle was one step ahead from having caught them off guard. The truck bounced on its shocks and someone jumped in behind them, and Kate was torn from his grasp._

"_Her pops is. Hell, first girl to show you a bit of attention, and practically a __**squaw**__ at that. I'm surprised y'all ain't knockin' boots already." Merle had a fist wrapped in Kate's hair, and he licked the side of her cheek. She cringed, but there was more disgust in her expression than fear, and Daryl could barely keep his temper in check. "Maybe you just need someone to show you how it's done…"_

_Rage clouded Daryl's vision as he let a fist fly towards his brother's chin and Kate's heel landed hard on his foot. "Run!" he shouted at her as she stumbled from her captor's grip. But he never knew how far she got, because a split second later he was flying over the side of the truck and the ground was closing in…_

Daryl blinked in the sunlight as he sat on the back of his brother's motorcycle and looked at the city limits sign to Cave Spring, Georgia. He had known the group of rag-tag survivors would be coming upon the small town eventually, but it was different to have it staring back at him. The dream from two nights before swirled through his head with perfect clarity, and his grip on the clutch tightened instinctively.

"You been here before, Daryl?" Carol's voice from behind centered his concentration back onto the task at hand. Her sisterly concern was both comforting and irritating, but he nodded his head and turned to face her.

"Knew someone from here."

"Think they might still be?" That would be Andrea.

"Doubt it. But I know about a place we might could use to hole up for the night."

Without any prompting, he led them to a place called the Hearn Inn at Rolater Park. It hadn't taken long to find, since there were signs leading towards it all over town, but for some reason Daryl's feet remained planted on the ground across the street from the Inn after they parked the vehicles. Memory buzzed in the back of his head, and he itched to be off exploring Cave Spring.

"You looked at that street sign a few blocks back the same way you looked at the city limits sign," Rick mentioned casually. "If you wanna go lookin…"

Daryl wasn't looking for a by-your-leave, but it helped that someone would know where to find him if his search brought him trouble. Which, of course, he wasn't expecting. He shifted his weight, turned on his heel, and left in the direction of Cherry Creek Road.

It didn't take him long at all to find it, even on foot. He'd been there once and had the address memorized for the better part of two decades. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to enter the house when he first approached.

It wasn't too impressive. At least, not by the standards of Hershel's farmhouse. Just a single story home, no more than three bedrooms if he was guessing right. And there was no stench of death.

The door opened easily when he turned the knob and he knew in that instant it was what he was looking for. A quilt thrown over the back of a couch. Family photos in frames on the wall. A bowl of dried flowers giving off a faint, but pleasant aroma. The two bedrooms near the front didn't interest him – one was set up as a home office and the other had obviously been occupied by an adolescent girl.

Alarm bells rang in his head as Daryl made his way through the back of the house. No dust on the dining table. Fresh fruit on the kitchen counter. But the back bedroom drew him like a moth to flame.

It **smelled** like her. He moved through the room slowly, taking in the detail, wondering if it was even possible that she could still be alive much less still in residence. He absently caressed the bedcover, holding his crossbow down, slowly dropping the emotional wall he had built around himself. And that was when he saw it.

Tucked into the frame of her vanity mirror was a strip of photos. Two kids, barely adults, goofing off in a carnival photo booth. They were happy. He dared to guess that maybe they were in love. As Daryl dared to reach out and pluck the pictures from their place on the mirror, he heard the tell-tale click of a cocked pistol from behind him.

"Of all the things you could've picked up," said a voice behind him. A girl. But not **her**. "We have valuables. Food. Supplies. And you grab the one thing that my mom will…" She hesitated and Daryl turned his head to look at her.

It was the girl who belonged to the other bedroom. The facial features were all Kate. But the muddy brown hair and the blue eyes…the Dixon eyes…widening as she recognized him.

"Fuckin' Merle," Daryl cursed under his breath. He was staring at the reason why he had lost Kate all those years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

_His head was hurting something awful, but it wasn't as bad as the pain in his shoulder. Dislocated again, if the angle of his arm twisted above him was any indication. And someone was crying his name…_

"_Please wake up, Daryl," she said, a hint of panic in her soft voice. One hand was pressed gently against his chest and another brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. Kate was __**worried**__, but all Daryl could think of was how embarrassing it was that he had let Merle dispatch him so easily. Gruffly, he turned away from her without even bothering to open his eyes._

"_Don't need your fussin'," he told her, trying to push himself up with his good arm. Gingerly, he touched his shoulder, judging that a good hard shove against the truck should knock it back into place. Had worked before, anyhow. Her hands fell away and she said nothing as he got up and walked away._

_A few moments later, he was blinking through the pain, but at least he had the use of both arms again. As the world stopped spinning, Daryl looked back over at Kate. She was still sitting on the ground, wringing her hands in the hem of her skirt. The flower had fallen out of her hair and there was a smear of blood across her cheek. And there was something __**not right**__ about the haunted look on her face._

"_I need…" she started, but couldn't finish. Tentatively, Daryl closed the distance, examining her more closely. The blood on her face had come from a busted lip, but otherwise there was no sign of bruising. Her hands continued to wrap themselves around her dress and he noticed the dark stains on the yellow fabric that she seemed to be trying to hide. Fury burned off Daryl's pain as soon as a sickening realization hit him._

"_I'm gonna kill that sonofabitch," he muttered under his breath, bending down to scoop Kate up into his arms. She was trembling, and had buried her face in his neck, but there were no tears. He couldn't take her home. Not like this. Fortunately, going home hadn't been in the plan for the evening. "You got a change in that bag?" When she nodded, Daryl continued, "I'm gonna take you somewhere to get cleaned up."_

_She nodded again and clung to him more tightly as he carried her to the truck. Even if their plans had been mucked up, they could still have one last night together._

Daryl cursed his stupid luck. He had gone off looking for Kate's **house**, while all along she had been at the B&B he had led the group to. The girl followed as closely as she could while he ran through the streets, but his stride was difficult for her to keep up with. He slowed his pace as he entered the building, with Dale and Glenn watching him cautiously while he took in the new surroundings.

"We put your stuff in Room 5," Glenn said, getting a grunt of acknowledgement in return. Daryl wasn't interested in a room right now.

There were voices coming from the back that sounded distinctly female, and Daryl headed in that direction. Try as he might, the conversation was lost on him as he stood, awestruck, in the dining room archway. Her back was turned to him, but there was no denying that it was, indeed, Kate.

Her dark, auburn-tinted hair was shorter, and there was a stronger definition to the muscles in her arms. She was sitting with Carol and Maggie at the table, the former of whom looked up at him with concern in her eyes. Daryl couldn't form words and his heart was pounding in his chest. If she could just turn around…

"Mama!" shouted the girl as she came in the front door behind Daryl. This got Kate's attention, who whipped around out of her seat faster than Merle with the cops on his tail. But she never got further than a step away from the table as her eyes locked with Daryl's.

It felt like the rest of the world melted away with her gaze on him. A tangle of emotions swirled in those chocolate eyes of hers, and it didn't register until it was too late when they settled on anger. The sting on his face where Kate slapped him brought him back to reality, but he could also see the pain in her expression. She moved to hit him again, but this time Daryl was ready.

He grabbed her wrist and glared down at her, allowing just a hint of temper to surface. Instead of cowering, she challenged it.

"I sent letters," she said. "Every week for a year. Maybe longer."

"I didn't get none past the first two months," came his reply.

"You said you'd come for me…"

"I **did**! Your damn ma sent me away afore I could get a foot in the door." Kate stared at him, unable to speak. The room was silent as everyone watched the altercation. Outside, thunder rumbled to signal the oncoming storm they had seen building on their way into town. Daryl was torn. He was pissed as all hell that she was mad at him, but he couldn't really blame her.

He kissed her. No warning, just pure impulse, and even Daryl didn't fully know why he had to do it. But he crushed his lips to her own and plunged his tongue into her mouth when she sighed and opened to him. There was no cherry slurpee. No gentleness. Just pure, unadulterateded **need**, and as soon as Daryl felt himself harden he tore away from her again.

"I would've taken care of you," he growled, noticing that her chest was heaving as deeply as his own. Apparently, Daryl hadn't been the only one to forget how to breathe. But he had to look away from her as the urge to repeat the action crept up on him, and his gaze settled on Kate's daughter. "**Both** of you," he amended, his heart stuck in his throat as the truth of the words surprised him.

Embarrassment washed over him as he noticed their audience. Nearly everyone had come out of the woodwork at the girl's yell for her mother, but instead of the perceived emergency, they got an emotional show from Daryl. Kate still hadn't said a word, and he was insulted by her silence. He dropped her arm and turned around, shoving past Andrea on his way up the stairs to his room.


	3. Chapter 3

_Daryl tested the water to make certain it wouldn't scald her before motioning for Kate to join him in the bathroom. She did so tentatively, arms still crossed across her chest as she hugged her shoulders. Shock had finally set in on the ride to the hotel in the next town over, and he was doing his best to bring her out of it gently. He knew that there was no chance of having sex with her now – his fury at what Merle had done had burned that particular need out of him – but there was a tiny scrap of hope that he could do something to salvage the night and make something good of it._

_He kicked off his boots and stepped into the shower, clothes and all. When Daryl reached out a hand for Kate to join him, she did so hesitantly. But what mattered was that she __**did**__. Baby steps, he reminded himself, watching her anxiety melt under the hot water. He reached behind her and unwound the rubber band that held the end of her braid. Bits of dirt washed down the drain as her tresses untangled while he combed his fingers through them, but there was no blood. No obvious head injuries, and Daryl heaved a sigh of relief._

_Her face had washed clean, but the corner of Kate's lip was cut and swollen. Daryl touched it gently and she winced. "I'll get some ice for that in a bit, k?" She nodded, and he couldn't tell if there might have been tears streaking down her face with the water._

_They continued like that until the water ran cold. He checked every inch of skin for the tiniest bruise, slowly peeling off the layers of her clothing. If he hadn't been so intent on plotting revenge against his brother for every infraction against Kate, then it would've been the most sexually charged half-hour of his life. But if the bite-marks on her breasts weren't enough to send Daryl over the edge, the blood-stained white panties were._

_When he knelt down to remove the last scrap of clothing, and she stood before him nude and wet, Daryl choked back a sob and leaned his head against her belly. He couldn't go any further knowing there was no way to take that pain away from Kate._

"_Daryl," she said quietly, brushing her fingers across the side of his face. When he looked up at her, she motioned for him to stand, and molded herself against him when he complied._

"_I couldn't stop him," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her shoulders._

"_You tried. It's enough."_

A cold shower didn't do much to settle Daryl's nerves after the confrontation with Kate. But for the first time in over a month he was clean. After bathing, he found a travel-sized hygiene set in the medicine cabinet, making use of the razor and toothbrush. Shrugging, he also decided to pick at his nails. Not that he was a fastidious groomer, but it did feel good to be squeaky-clean after having tromped through tick-infested woods for several weeks.

It had started to rain while he was showering and it was getting dark. Wrapping a towel at his waist, Daryl went around the room and wondered just how much thought had gone into making this a safe haven for travelers after the epidemic swept through. A flick of the switch told him the electric lights weren't working, but there were several candles in holders throughout the room where lamps may once have been, and fancy light-blocking curtains were hung at the windows.

Daryl turned up his nose at the pile of laundry. None of it was really clean, so he snooped in the dresser. He was in luck. There were plenty of clothes for both men and women, including a pair of blue Dickies that were just his size. Or, at least, it had been his size the last time he had gotten new pants. He traded them for some khaki cargo pants two inches smaller in the waist, not thinking twice about going commando underneath. A knock at the door stopped him as he headed to the closet to find a shirt.

"Who's it?" he asked.

"Me," came Carol's voice from the other side of the door.

"You alone?"

"Yes."

Daryl took a step towards the door and opened it. Carol slipped quietly inside and shut it back again as he returned to his task in the closet. She never winced when she saw the scars. It was what had convinced him to let her get close when nobody else could. Or, at least as close as he was willing to let anyone get.

"People are asking…"

"About the girl. Yeah. Figured they would," he replied gruffly. Daryl tried concentrating on looking for a shirt, but found himself randomly rummaging through the closet instead. "She ain't mine."

"Katrina said as much. But she looks a little like you."

"Is 'cause she's Merle's." Daryl knew Carol would be wearing a shocked expression on her face, but he had to turn and look just to be sure. Sure enough, she was doing a fairly good impression of a fish. "That ain't common knowledge."

"Did **you** know?"

"Up until an hour ago? No." Daryl gave up on finding a shirt and went across the room to pick up his wallet from the nightstand. He opened it, and pulled out a tiny laminated black-and-white picture. Handing it to Carol, he resumed sorting through the closet. "That boy and that girl. She came to town every summer to see her pa's folks. Took him two years to ask her out. 'Course, part of that was 'cause she was 16 an he was 20 when they met, but he was patient."

"And shy," Carol guessed.

"That, too. The last night of summer, 'fore she went home, they made plans. **Overnight** plans. Only Merle caught 'em. Needless to say, it didn't end the way they was expecting."

"Oh, Daryl," she said, handing him back the photo and sitting on the bed. He stuffed it back in his wallet before shaking his head at Carol and returning to the dresser to find a tee since the closet wasn't doing him any good.

"Don't you 'oh, Daryl' me. I been beatin' myself up over that for 17 years."

"But you loved her…"

Daryl grabbed the first shirt he found, slammed the drawer shut and turned to face her. His temper flared, but he never closed the distance. "I still **do**," he said quietly, trying to calm down. It was just Carol. Innocent, broken, emotional Carol. But Daryl let her know that she had crossed the line by closing his eyes to slits and looking at the door. Carol only hesitated for a moment as she let herself out.

"I was supposed to tell you that dinner's on soon. Reckon it's about ready now."

Daryl nodded his acknowledgement. As she closed the door behind her, he pulled the tee-shirt over his head, grabbed his side-arm and paused in front of the mirror. He noted the dark circles under his eyes and the peppering of grey in his beard. "Well, old man," he told himself, "cat's outta the bag. Try not to let him catch your tongue, too."


	4. Chapter 4

_She looked as if she was sleeping when Daryl crept back into the hotel room from his jaunt to the convenience store. He had given her a couple of the painkillers that had been stashed in his truck, so it was possible they had knocked her out. But when Kate cracked her eyes open and smiled, he couldn't help but return the sentiment._

"_Well, it ain't the Ritz," he said, locking the door behind him, "but we have a microwave and Cup o'Noodles." She giggled as Daryl pulled the telltale white Styrofoam cup from the plastic shopping bag, and his heart soared at the sound. Given what Kate had been through, it was the last thing he had expected to hear. He made short work of prepping their noodles, then moved to check her bruises again. Other than the cut lip, there was some discoloration on her back where Merle had held her down against the bed of the truck, and she had been resting on her belly after the shower._

_She gasped as he placed the first ice pack over her shoulders. "Shh," Daryl told her. "Gotta be ice the first 24 hours. If's still hurting by tomorrow night, get a heating pad."_

"_How do you know this?" Kate asked, watching from the corner of her eye and wincing as the second pack was lain across the small of her back._

"_Let myself get into fights in junior high," he explained. "Listened to what the nurses told me when they fixed me up so I could do the same at home." It didn't escape his notice that she __**didn't**__ cringe or make puppy faces at him when Daryl hinted at his family's treatment of him at home. How many others had? Countless. But then again, she had experienced Merle firsthand tonight…_

"_Can't you just leave?"_

"_Merle wouldn't…I mean, he's the only family I got left."_

_Something flashed in her beautiful brown eyes as Kate gazed up at him sleepily. "Make a new one," she suggested. The ice packs slid off as she shifted to rest her head in his lap and Daryl absently stroked her hair. Her words had gotten him thinking, not something he was prone to do regularly, but maybe she was right. Maybe it __**was**__ that easy._

There were two new faces at the table by the time Daryl had finally emerged from his room. Native men, Cherokee if they were any relation to Kate, one young enough to be his son and the other old enough to be his father. The elder was seated next to Dale, lost in conversation. The younger one was with Kate's daughter at the serving table, helping her spoon steaming ladles of stew into the next waiting bowl. The way they looked at each other, the hesitant touches…Daryl had seen that before.

"Looks familiar," he heard Kate mention casually. She had crept up next to him while he scanned the room from the door. Nodding was his only acknowledgement. Talking would make him look at her. Looking would make him want to touch, and the last thing Daryl wanted was to make another scene. "Mike took a shining to Sarah when we went out for Christmas last year. When the…epidemic hit us, he and my dad's cousin," he saw her head tilt towards the older man out of the corner of his eye, "they trucked it down here as quick as they could."

"Well, the world hadn't exactly gone to shit when we was kids," Daryl replied, prickling at her words. Had she meant them as an insult?

"That wasn't a dig," Kate assured him, resting a hand on his arm. When he tried to shrug it off, she held a firm grip, forcing him to look down at her. She visibly startled underneath his glare and scrunched her nose in frustration. Since she seemed to have lost the words she was going to say, Daryl filled in with a few of his own.

"You and me. We got unfinished business."

Kate's eyes softened as she lowered her lashes and nodded. "I talked to Rick. Your group's gonna stay on for a few days to rest and resupply. We'll have some time to sort things." She waited for acknowledgement, and when Daryl gave a slight nod, she released his arm. As Kate walked away, he narrowed his eyes to slits and admired the view. He followed her until she passed the serving table, where Rick caught his gaze and waved him over with an empty bowl.

It didn't take him more than half a dozen steps to reach his fellow survivor, and Daryl took the bowl gratefully. "You clean up well," the former sheriff mentioned. Looking down at his attire, Daryl shrugged. It was just pants and a tee-shirt. He hadn't even bothered putting on shoes. "You know, maybe it ain't my place…" Rick started quietly.

"It ain't."

"Just sayin', I don't know a man alive that's never had a problem with a woman." Rick certainly had him there. Daryl chuffed and lifted the corner of his mouth in a smirk.

He went through the motions of dinner, making small talk, but doing his best to ignore the sidelong glances his traveling companions were giving him. Daryl was keenly aware of Kate's every move. She was relaxed, and happily chatting about how her little town had managed to survive the past several months. Rick listened attentively. Could he possibly be abandoning the plan to carry on to the military base and settle in Cave Spring?

Daryl picked up enough bits and pieces of the conversation to figure out the basics of how the town functioned. It had been an excellent plan, actually. After the initial shock wore off, and they had been whittled down to less than 5% of their original population, the citizens had begun to restore the town in bits and pieces. There were checkpoints and watch stations throughout the area, they reduced generator use to a single business in order to keep a stock of frozen foods, and had set up the Inn as a glorified rest area for anyone passing through. He was still considering the brilliance of it as everyone cleared away from the table, leaving him stuck on dish duty with Kate.

It had taken him three trips to get everything that had been left on the table. By the time Daryl came in, she had wiped everything clean of scraps, waving for the older man to come get the bucket of waste. At his questioning expression, Kate explained, "Blue keeps dogs. They get the leftovers from big meals."

"Makes sense."

They managed to get most of the washing done in silence, but it was like being a kid all over again for him. Every touch, every glance burned a hole into Daryl's soul. He had a thousand questions for Kate bouncing around in his head, and answers for anything he thought she might ask. Including the one she **did** ask.

"When was the last letter you got from me?"

"October. Right before Halloween," he answered. Closing his eyes, Daryl sighed and recalled the image of her words with an uncharacteristically playful grin. "Something about how my eyes were as blue as cave water." She punched his arm lightly. "Or something equally mushy. I don't 'member."

"Bullshit," Kate replied, splashing him with dishwater and giggling. The teasing had coaxed him out of his brooding and he splashed her back. For a moment, when he looked at her, she was eighteen years old with a flower in her hair. Daryl blinked, and stared at a mature woman, with laugh lines crinkling at the sides of her eyes and the barest touch of silver in her hair. Somehow it made her even more beautiful to him.

Kate had erupted into peals of near-hysterical giggling as they continued to splash and snap towels at each other, but he heard the catch in her throat the second she broke. Daryl understood it. He'd had his meltdown in the room before dinner, but she had been down here putting on a face for her guests. He caught Kate just as the first tear fell and crushed her against him.

Somehow one of her arms got loose and she beat against his shoulder with the heel of her palm. Daryl stood and took it, knowing full well it wasn't him Kate was lashing out against. After about a minute, she lost the energy for it and wrapped her arm around his back, clinging to his shirt.

"I wrote about Sarah in the very next letter," she sobbed, and the world fell out from underneath Daryl's feet.


	5. Chapter 5

_Daryl stood on the front porch of Kate's house, not entirely certain if it was even her house. Sure, it was the same address that had been on the letters she had sent, but what if she didn't actually __**live**__ there. He stood, debating on ringing the doorbell, for a good five minutes. When the voice in the back of his head told him that someone here would at the very least know where to find her, Daryl reached forward and pushed the button._

_The woman who answered looked barely old enough to be Kate's mother, but he guessed that's who it was by the slight resemblance between the two. She opened the door, but left the screen closed, blinking at him as if she hadn't yet seen the sun that day. "Who are you?" she asked, and the scent of alcohol on her breath put up his guard._

"_Daryl Dixon, ma'am," he said as politely as he could. "I'm here to see Kate."_

"_Dixon…that name sounds…" The woman seemed to be confused at first, looking at the ground and gyrating her head drunkenly. But quick as a flash, she snapped her head up and glared at him. "You!" The screen door was thrown open like a shot and Daryl was forced back to the steps. "You're the one who ruined her! Why she ain't ever gonna amount to nothin' but some two-bit waitress or housekeeper now!" The woman grabbed a baseball bat that had been leaning against the house and forced Daryl down the stairs._

" _No, ma'am. That weren't my intent…"_

"_Don't bullshit me, boy. You're no better than any other stupid hick that's asked after her, but what made her pick you is beyond me. She deserves better than this…"_

"_I'm gonna take care of her, ma'am."_

"_Sure. Take care of her until she pops out a bunch'a kiddos for ya, gets fat and ugly, then you leave her. Or go runnin' around on her. Or start hittin' on her…"_

"_No, ma'am," Daryl said, putting his foot down and standing up to the woman as his temper surfaced. "I ain't __**never**__ gonna hit my Kate."_

_She laughed at him. Full on throwing back her head and laughing. Daryl didn't know whether to be frightened or more angry, but her action stopped him dead in his tracks._

"_**Your**__ Kate…is gone. She wanted to hard to be not like me that she up and left as soon as I found out about what y'all were up to this summer." There was pain laced into the woman's anger now, but Daryl wouldn't leave until she'd said her piece. He knew what was about to happen, but he had to hear it. "She didn't wait for you, boy. Best you take yourself back to whatever rock you crawled out from under and find yourself some proper white trash to settle down with instead."_

It was the first time in months that Daryl had been able to sleep in comfortably, his stint at the farm recovering from a spill down the ravine notwithstanding. He had debated lounging about a bit longer, but the scent of coffee wafting up from the quiet floors below had beckoned him out of bed. As he leaned against the porch railing, coffee cup cradled in his hands, Daryl could think of few things that would complete the morning.

He didn't know where everyone else had run off to. Frankly, he didn't care at that moment. His eyes scanned the scenery – laundry on a line in the side yard, water from the creek rippling a few dozen yards away, an unfamiliar face in the lookout perch who nodded an acknowledgement before returning to his duty, and the scent of the Cherokee Rose bush that bloomed in front of the porch. Daryl reached out and gently caressed a petal of the nearest flower, allowing himself to smile at the memory of the one he had once tucked behind Kate's ear.

"There seem to be a lot of those blooming around here," he heard Carol say from the doorway. When he turned, she had a basket of wet laundry tucked under her arm. It looked heavy, and on impulse, he moved to take it from her. He didn't say anything as they walked to the stand of trees where the rope was strung to hang their clothes. "I talked to Katrina this morning," Carol said tentatively, making sure she had his attention before continuing. "She asked me to stay when the rest of y'all leave."

**Y'all**. She had distinctly included Daryl in with those who would be moving on when they were done here. If Daryl was going to be honest, he didn't know if he could bring himself to leave Kate again. But staying meant becoming a part of a community. Not just a group of survivors, but a town that actually stood a chance of growing and thriving again if they could wait out the outbreak. Until recently, he had always been a loner, not a part of the whole. Daryl looked back at the house just as the scent of the flowers hit him.

"Ya know," he started, leaning against a tree and taking a sip of coffee, "those things bloomed all over my hometown that last summer she came to visit."

"She's the one who told you about the legend behind the flowers." It wasn't a question and Daryl nodded without having to look at her. "Well, whatever questions you've been asking yourself, I'm betting the answer's been in front of you the whole time."

Daryl contemplated their exchange off and on throughout the day, but Carol had never come out and told him to ask Kate if he had a place in Cave Spring. He kept himself busy by sorting through clothes that were too ruined to keep, restocking from what was available at the bed-and-breakfast, and running into the store downtown with Glenn to see what weapons and first aid supplies the small town could spare. He was happier than a pig in shit to find out that someone had stocked enough bolts for his crossbow that he could easily take a dozen and they would still have plenty left over. They were like kids in a candy store and it was nearly dusk by the time they finished up, wanting to be back at their makeshift base camp before full dark.

They knew there was trouble when they were three blocks away from the Hearn Inn and heard shouting. Even loaded down with supplies they hightailed it the rest of the way to find a sight neither had ever expected. It was Shane and Andrea, having a lover's spat in plain sight of anyone who cared to watch.

"…just acting like a jealous bitch," Shane was saying, loading something that had been wrapped in a sheet into the bed of Blue's pickup truck. The old Cherokee just stood and watched, a shotgun within easy reach.

"Jealous? Of that scrawny slut? You know she's scraping the bottom of the barrel as it is, and you come back singin' her praises…"

"Well I'm sorry as hell that your day was so boring Miss I-have-to-shoot-something-to-feel-important. The next time you hit a walker from 100 yards with a sniper rifle and then tangle with a damn cougar who no longer has to compete with that walker to eat your dog, I'll toot your horn to your heart's content."

Daryl and Glenn exchanged a look as they realized who the argument was about. With Kate nowhere in sight, and nobody else stepping in, one of them would have to. Sighing, Daryl shook his head and casually walked between them with his crossbow slung over his shoulder.

"You'd think your carryin' on might bring every walker in a ten mile radius down on us," he mentioned in passing. "You're welcome to play the hero if you want, Andrea. But don't mind if I laugh when Kate has to save your ass." He didn't have to know that she was staring daggers at him as he continued walking to the house, but Daryl heard Glenn's chuckle as the boy followed.


	6. Chapter 6

_Dear Daryl,_

_There's only so much I can put into this letter. So much I'd rather tell you in person because words on paper are weak and meaningless. Every day since I've come home has been torture, not being able to see you. Even when I went to the cave and threw a penny into the wishing pool, I was reminded of gazing into the blue depths of your eyes. Sappy, I know, but…just words. I'd rather have you._

_Mom still has no clue that you're coming for me soon. I've been working part time at the diner, saving every penny for a new life away from here. She thinks I'm saving for college. Wants me to have a better life. But it's not her life. Not her decision to make. I'm just hoping with both of us scraping the cash now, we'll have a better chance for a good start somewhere else._

_I don't care where we go. Just come for me. Get me out of here. And until then, I will miss you every day._

_Yours always,_

_Kate_

The full moon made a pretty picture of the house as Daryl approached it for the third time in his life. However, he had been assured beforehand that Kate would be home, so he cracked open the screen and tapped on the door. Soft candlelight glowed inside as she let him in.

"Maggie said you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," she said, motioning for him to find a place to sit on the couch as she closed and locked the door. "It's about last night. I sort of had a complete meltdown."

"Eh. It's the apocalypse. These things happen," he teased, sensing that she was about to go down the self-pity road. He didn't want to hear it, and she didn't need to go through this again. His joke got the desired effect, and Kate relaxed as she took a seat next to him.

It was almost too easy, the way she eased into him as Daryl wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Kate had tucked her head comfortably underneath his chin with her back against his chest. They sat like that in silence for a few moments as Daryl closed his eyes and let his mind wander to a simpler time. Instinct, or something very much like it, drew his head down to press his lips behind her ear. Her sudden intake of breath caused him to snap his eyes open as he realized he had begun to trail kisses down the back of her neck.

"If you want me to stop…" he started to ask, almost as an afterthought.

"Daryl."

"Hm?"

"I didn't invite you over to hear an apology." Kate had turned her head ever-so-slightly, and Daryl needed no further prompting. He nearly crushed his mouth against hers, and she returned his enthusiasm with a newly-released desire of her own.

His hands were everywhere. He didn't know where to touch her first and there was a brief moment of panic as she crawled into his lap and straddled him. He took in deep gulps of air as she cupped his face in her hands and waited for his to settle on her hips before leaning in. This time when their lips met, he teased her mouth, darting his tongue in, then out, then in again to curl itself around her own. She met him each time, running her hands down his chest and unbuttoning his shirt as he slid her hips closer to his own, grinding his erection against her.

Daryl knew he wasn't going to last long. There had been nobody, absolutely **nobody** that he had ever wanted more than he wanted this woman here with him now. As he considered that thought briefly, he tore himself away from her just long enough to ask, "How long has it…"

"Never," she answered, causing him to panic for a split second. Fuck. He was going to end up hurting her. But maybe if he…

He made his decision in a fraction of a second, silently apologizing for taking away her control of the situation by lifting her shirt and capturing her breast in his mouth as he leaned her down on the couch. Daryl sent a prayer up to the porn gods for teaching him that women could be stimulated **externally** because he was going to have to rely on that in order to bring Kate to an orgasm.

He felt her hands on his chest again, slowly inching their way down towards the waistband of his pants. "Don't," Daryl gasped. "God, woman, I will **lose** it if you touch me there right now." Kate didn't argue, just stopped her roaming and gasped as he found her nipple with his tongue. And where he had told her to stop, he moved forward on her.

His touch was hesitant at first, cautiously judging her reaction as he slipped his hand between her shorts and panties. Kate bit her lip and arched her hips, putting just a tad more pressure against his fingers as Daryl teased her through the fabric. He could feel himself straining against the zipper of his own pants but she just wasn't **quite** ready for him yet.

He stopped just long enough to strip her, marveling at the beautiful woman who looked up at him with absolute trust in her eyes. Those brown pools closed to slits when he touched her again, and Kate's breathing came out in short bursts, accented by moans of need. Daryl somehow managed to shuck out of his own pants while he rubbed her clit with his thumb and slipped first one…then two fingers up inside of her. Hot, wet, soft and almost painfully tight… There was just one thing he needed first.

He rose over Kate, whispering in her ear through labored breaths, "Tell me when you cum." She barely managed to tilt her head, but her squeal of anticipation served well enough for Daryl. It didn't look like it would take long from the way she had begun to squirm underneath him and he made a change in pace at the very last moment.

She came un-fucking-glued as he rubbed the head of his erection against her, and not a moment too soon. There was a feral groan ripping from her throat, and when Daryl looked down at her, Kate gave the slightest nod before arching her back and practically forcing herself onto him. As he sheathed himself inside, he locked his mouth onto hers to bury the scream he knew was inevitable.

Nothing had prepared him for it. Painfully tight was an understatement, but god **damn** if she didn't milk him dry right off the bat with the waves of her orgasm. He rode it, buried to the hilt, a growl of his own joining her cries as he spilled himself inside of her.

The world came together in pieces of light. Somehow Daryl had managed to stay propped up on his elbows to keep from crushing Kate, who was lying beneath him in a sweat-soaked stupor. "I think I'm stuck," he mumbled. This elicited a chuckle from her, which was quickly replaced with a hiss of pain at the friction it caused. "Hang on," he tried again, wrapping one arm around her and rolling them over in one fluid motion.

"Not squished is good," she teased sleepily, resting her head on his shoulder. Daryl kissed her forehead and reached for the quilt that had fallen on the floor during their love play. Within minutes they were both fast asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Two days later, Daryl watched as Rick and his crew drove out of town. Along with himself and Carol, T-Dog decided to stay behind, replaced by two townsfolk who had decided they would be better suited on the road. Although he was happy to see the backside of Andrea and Shane, Daryl sincerely hoped he'd see Rick and his family again.

Carol, Sarah and Kate were already busy at work cleaning up the bed and breakfast and for the first time in his life, Daryl had not one, but **three** women to muck about in his life. It scared the hell out of him, truth be told, but he wouldn't have traded it. The world they lived in now, it wasn't easy to get by. But it had managed to eliminate most of the spoiled, selfish, stupid fucks that had always looked down their noses at him and misunderstood what it was that made him tick.

The people that had been left behind. People like him. Survivors. Loners. The world had turned their flaws into assets and brought them together as a family. Kate had been right all those years ago. He **could** make a new one.


End file.
